Ekona

I really don't get that. Either of them. They're so staged, they're not funny. #grumpyDan

Good question! I'm not sure, if I'm honest. I mean, my old 911 came close but even then on some roads it just felt silly quick (PDK didn't help), and they're still quite pricey for a good 997.2 car. A 458 is delightful but not exactly cheap, and I've driven FI Zeds that come quite close but again at points they just feel a bit much. I guess the closest I've come would be an R300. Never driven on the roads in one sadly, only on the track, but for me that never felt crazy like other stuff has in the same situation. What you really want is something light with a nice linear throttle and a low top speed, so you can spend all your time chasing the red line and changing gears which, ultimately, is the real fun part of driving.

And to save the maths, if we assume an average 350 is about 300bhp and weighs 1500kg, guess where that puts it...

Thanks guys, all compliments gratefully appreciated Shares always welcome too! I didn't mention it in the article, but personally I feel that about 200bhp/ton is right where I want to be in terms of road cars. Any more and you start to get a little bit on the uncontrollable side, any less and you don't always get the speed thrill either. It's a nice compromise.

Worst "I just bought a new TV" post ever

Will, if there's a collection for flowers or charity donation or whatever for the funeral, please let me know.

People joke about the M tax, or the Porsche tax, or the Lambo tax, but they genuinely exist. Sellers know their market, and price their stuff accordingly. It does indeed suck for the end user, but that's life I guess.

Because no-one buys them, so they're more expensive to manufacture. Or they're made in a different factory, or they want to make more profit, or they cost more to design, or because the owner put his pants on the wrong way round this morning. Could be any one of a million reasons, I wouldn't worry about it.

Try the current Sport Automatic 'boxes on the current 1/2 and 3/4 series range, they're utterly brilliant. As close to a dual clutch as you could get, and tbh I was hard pressed to tell the difference. Only on occasion when I was asking it do something stupid like shift down when I was accelerating hard could I trip it up, and that's something you'd never actually do in real driving.

Essentially it's telling you that you're driving beyond the limits of grip, so you'll need to adjust your driving style to the conditions.

It says in big letters inside your fuel flap what fuel to use.

There will be a delay, the slushbox in the auto 350 isn't exactly cutting edge. It may not actually be any longer than the time it takes to shift with a stick, but it will feel like an age as you're not actually doing anything. If you're happy with a slow shift and want a more relaxed drive then it's perfect, but anyone expecting shifts like a DSG or even the new range of ZF boxes will be hugely disappointed I think. There's no right or wrong answer to the manual or auto question, some people will graduate more to one or the other. Try them both, make up your own mind.

Tonight for my birthday meal I went to Pizza Hut and had an ice Cream factory for dessert. I'm so not grown up yet

I had to google that. Wish I hadn't.

I've seen this mentioned a few times now, so I just did a quick google to see what's what. It's actually 144 people beheaded in Saudi this year so far, probably more as the article I found was published at the start of November. However, I guess the argument there is that at least they have a justice system, with proper police and courts and stuff. The sentence may be harsh for some things, like drug trafficking, but at least it's all set in stone and you have half a chance at defending yourself. With Daesh you get none of that, and they'll kill innocents just for the sake of it. I don't think the Saudi system is one we should all aspire to, but neither do I think it's in any way comparable in terms of barbarism.

I like that. I think it's a daft thing to do and it's going to be rubbish to drive, but I can massively appreciate the engineering and style that's gone into that. Subtle is the way forward.

Indeed. When even the French are calling for everyone to take up arms and eradicate this filth from the planet, you know it's really time to step up!

I am Tom!

Your kidding me? Im older than you?! or do you mean 140? I know, I had a tough paper round, I'm younger than I look

Oh. Is that it? Tbh it's probably not hard to hear when there's artillery fire in the distance, and maybe the person who fired it (might not be the Yanks, it's not like the film was of the highest quality) missed the first time? They would certainly have been expecting it then! Or they could hear it being launched, or the site next door just got hit, or thug life they just ain't care.

*groan*

What am I missing?

I'm always nice! Now f*ck off :p Thanks folks! One year closer to the big four-oh, I guess I really should start planning for that now...

HashtagHashtag AtAt. Sounds foreign. Bloody foreigners, coming over here telling us they want to know what love is!